A blog about science fiction and fantasy novels, films and related matters

Monday, 22 May 2017

Odyssey, and Cauldron, by Jack McDevitt

Odyssey, and
Cauldron, by Jack McDevitt

Odyssey and Cauldron are the fifth and sixth books
in the author's Academy series,
following on from Omega. This
effectively ends the main sequence of this series, although there is a 2013
prequel, Starhawk, featuring a much
younger Priscilla Hutchins (Hutch) at the start of her career.

Odyssey continues
the tale of Hutch, the former starship pilot and now deskbound administrator,
and includes some other characters we have met before; most notably Gregory
MacAllister, the cynical and irascible iconoclast who owns and edits a no-holds-barred
periodical. In fact, he is arguably the most important character in this story,
along with a newcomer, Valentina (Valya) a Greek starship pilot who is, of
course, gorgeous, like most of McDevitt's heroines.

This time the plot hangs on the mysterious
"Moonriders"; groups of black spheres which have allegedly been
spotted by space craft from time to time. They seem to belong to an advanced alien
civilisation but no clear evidence exists that they are real, and MacAllister
among many others believes they are a myth, with the occasional video footage
being faked. This attitude changes when Moonriders are observed to move a large
asteroid in such a way that it would eventually strike one of the few
life-bearing worlds discovered, with devastating effects. Not long afterwards,
a partly-built space hotel is also threatened.

The ability of the Academy to respond to these threats is
hampered by constant budget cuts and its survival has been doubtful, but with
an unknown and apparently hostile alien civilisation on the loose, a warfleet
is planned. This will be too late, however, to help the Origins project – a giant
particle accelerator in space which also comes under threat, and whose fate
forms the climax of the novel.

The author's writing quality and characterisation continue
to improve, and while the viewpoint hops between various individuals there is
no problem keeping up with who everyone is. However, the story is less
ambitious and exciting than the earlier books; it doesn't have such a
"widescreen baroque" appeal or the associated "sense of
wonder". There are some loose ends, too: an initial mystery concerning a
spaceship lost in transdimensional space is left unresolved, as are some more
important issues.

An amusing aspect of the story is the series of quotes which
begin each chapter, many of them caustic observations from MacAllister's publications,
which provide a good flavour of the character. For example:

"The term congressional
hearing is an oxymoron. No congressional
hearing is ever called to gather information. Rather, it is an exercise
designed strictly for posturing, by people who have already made up their
minds, looking for ammunition to support their positions."

And:

"There are few
professions whose primary objective is to advance the cause of humanity rather
than simply to make money or accrue power. Among this limited group of
humanitarians I would number teachers, nurses, bookstore owners, and
bartenders."

Finally:

"Certain types of
decisions can be safely ignored. Some issues will go away with the passage of
time, others will be so slow developing that the decision makers will depart
before the results of their neglect become manifest. Which brings us to the
environment."

Despite a certain lack of excitement in the story by
comparison with the earlier books, this is still a fast-paced and intriguing
tale which is well worth reading.

************************

Cauldron is set
some years later, when the Academy has closed down as a result of a general
withdrawal from space exploration as humanity focuses on winning the battle to
correct self-inflicted environmental damage to the Earth. Hutch is retired,
only emerging to give fundraising speeches in support of the Prometheus
Foundation, a private organisation which is the last to be carrying our
interstellar research. Everything is shaken up when a scientist approaches her
with information about a new type of superluminal drive which is many times
faster than the existing one: fast enough to reach the galactic core in only a
few months.

The rest of this review contains some spoilers; if you don't
want to read on, I'll just add that it is, as usual, a gripping story which I
finished in a couple of reading sessions, despite it being not without flaws.

After various trials and tribulations the new drive is made
to work and a party of explorers, including Hutch, sets out to reach the galactic
core. The reason is not just research for its own sake: they are searching for
the Cauldron; the source of the vast, civilisation-destroying Omega clouds
(featured in the first and fourth books of the Academy series: The Engines
of God and Omega). On the way,
they drop in to two other solar systems of interest: one is the source of the
vast alien spacecraft (the subject of Chindi,
the third in the series); the other the origin of the first ever alien message
received by SETI when Hutch was a young girl. Both episodes have a certain
familiarity about them: the first an alien contact story reminiscent in some
respects of that in Omega; the
second has a landing party in trouble on a frozen world, which reminded me of Deepsix, the second book of the series.
The climax of the story, as they reach the Cauldron and discover what the Omega
clouds are all about, is certainly different, but I found it rather unsatisfying.
On the other hand, the author had rather painted himself into a corner; what
reasonable explanation could there be for the existence of such
incomprehensible artifacts as the Omega clouds? Maybe it would have been better
to leave their origin and purpose a mystery.

One aspect of McDevitt's writing that I enjoy is the way he
takes the opportunity to pass (often sardonic) comment on social attitudes in
both human and alien societies, as mentioned above. In this instance, his
target is personal immortality: if everyone could live forever, he postulates
that the end result would be a society totally fossilised, with no new thinking
or development, and possibly even abandoning many technological developments as
being unnecessary. That adds another wrinkle to my own thoughts on this issue,
as expressed here: http://quarryhs.co.uk/OnImmortality.htm

Overall, the Academy
series is a significant contribution to modern space opera. It has its
weaknesses, but these are forgivable in the light of the widescreen imagination
and gripping storytelling.

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